The document discusses several difficult family dynamics that students may experience such as having an incarcerated parent, parents that are divorced, or being a teen parent. It also covers challenges faced by gay teens such as higher dropout rates and increased risk of depression due to stigma, lack of support, and bullying. Potential solutions proposed include raising awareness, encouraging open dialogue, establishing safe zones, and implementing anti-bullying programs.

1. Navigating Difficult Dynamics
Ewing
Kmack
Roe
Wolczyk

2.  Children of Incarcerated Parents
 Children of Divorce
 Teen Moms
 Gay Teens

3.  Disproportionately of color
 Stigma/Secrecy
 Problems with maintaining a relationship
◦ Letter writing should be encouraged
 Lack of awareness, acceptance and support at
school

4.  1970 to 2003:
◦ frequency of single mother families increased from
12% to 26%,
◦ Frequency of single father families increased from
1% to 6%
 Estimates: 50-60% of children born in 1990s
will live in a single parent home at some point

5.  Relocation/Social complications
 Income: loss of second income
◦ Parent may work increased hours/second job
◦ Less money for extra curricular activities
◦ Less time available with parent
 Lower GPA
 Higher instances of tardiness
 Higher drop out rate
 Guilt

6.  Girls
◦ Internalize
◦ More likely to seek counseling/social support but
less likely to be satisfied with results
◦ Depression
 Boys
◦ Externalize
◦ More likely to “act out” in class
◦ Longer period of maladjustment

7. • Title IX (1972)
– guarantees the right of pregnant and parenting
teens to an education equal to that of her peers
• Teenage pregnancy largely considered a
moral issue rather than an educational one
– A “national scandal” associated with a failure of
American society

8.  Approximately half to two-thirds of all female
student school dropouts cite pregnancy as
their primary reason for leaving school
 Teenage mothers receive an average of two years
fewer schooling than their non-parenting peers
 Status-failure versus status-conflict
 Stereotyping versus statistics
 Personal, social, and economic influences and
implications

9. “Out” students had half a Most schools have anti-
grade point lower than those bullying policies, but fail to be
“closeted” specific
28% of
homosexual
Lessons Learned:
teens drop out of
Michigan,
high school -
Minnesota, and
more than 3
Christian groups
times compared
to straight Bullying of
students Gay Teens
& Education
Solutions: Anti-Bullying Summit, School-Wide Efforts

10. Cyberbullying Suicide
Contagion
•Cyberspace is a •Suicide publicity
popular playground leads to hysteria or
for bullies prevention efforts
•67% of bullying •Media coverage
occurs when adults often sensational
aren’t present
•Depression as
•Victims of cause, not bullying?
cyberbullying have
easy access to suicide
websites
Bullied to Death?

11.  Stigma/Secrecy
 Lack of awareness, acceptance and support at
school
 Family Structure
 Income
 Problematic behavior
 Lower level of academic achievement
 Lack of representation in dominant culture
 Emotional distress

12.  Raise awareness
 Open dialogue in classroom
 Involve populations in curriculum
 Safe zones
 Vigilance for discrimination
◦ Better reporting of bullying incidents
 Support groups
 Related literature